Early produced signs are iconic: Evidence from Turkish Sign Language

Beyza Sumer, Koc University

Clara Grabitz, Radboud University

Aylin Kuntay, Koc University

Abstract

Motivated form-meaning mappings are pervasive in sign languages,
and iconicity has recently been shown to facilitate sign learning from early on.
This study investigated the role of iconicity for language acquisition in Turkish
Sign Language (TID). Participants were 43 signing children (aged 10 to 45 months)
of deaf parents. Sign production ability was recorded using the adapted version
of MacArthur Bates Communicative Developmental Inventory (CDI) consisting of 500
items for TID. Iconicity and familiarity ratings for a subset of 104 signs were
available. Our results revealed that the iconicity of a sign was positively
correlated with the percentage of children producing a sign and that iconicity
significantly predicted the percentage of children producing a sign, independent
of familiarity or phonological complexity. Our results are consistent with
previous findings on sign language acquisition and provide further support for
the facilitating effect of iconic form-meaning mappings in sign learning.